International Law

Swiss Watches: 50 Percent Chinese, 50 Percent Swiss

Posted on October 04, 2010
When can you call a watch a Swiss watch?According to the Swiss law (Verordnung vom 23. Dezember 1971 über die Benützung des Schweizer Namens für Uhren) when:- its movement is Swiss, cased up in Switzerland and the manufacturer carries out the final inspection in Switzerland...

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!

Posted on September 22, 2010
First of all Happy Mid-Autumn Festival ??? to you all! For those of you who did not have the pleasure of staring to the moon together with hundreds of picknicking and moon cake eating families in Victoria park here is a quick primer of the event. IP Dragon was delighted to receive an email of Professor Peter K...

Chinese Coffee Cats, Obscene Brand "Star Tuuuut" and the Difference Between B and F

Posted on September 10, 2010
Do you remember the Starbucks versus Xingbake case? See here. But there are many more coffee(copy)cats in China, see here. Confusion between the Starbucks and Star tuuuut might has a lot to do with culture or rather language. Confusion might not be so big in Western countries (although it was about the tort: passing-off and dealt with an unregistered trademark in a Common Law country, it reminded me of the Advocaat case), but for many Chinese the difference between a B and F in the second syllable might not have a big impact on the total picture of the word...

Research: Through Fake Sunglasses You Will See Reality Different, Behave More Unethical, Feel Less Authenic

Posted on September 07, 2010
Remember IP Dragon's post of April, 2009: 'Faustian Pact Anno 2009: Receive Counterfeit Products, Loose Your Soul'. Francesca Gino (Kenan-Flager Business School, University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill), Michael I. Norton (Harvard Business School) and Dan Ariely (Fuqua Businss School, Duke University) wrote an interesting paper for Psychological Science about the experiments, which shed light on the influence of wearing fake sunglasses...

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IP Dragon Speaks at 3rd Global Forum on Intellectual Property, Singapore, January 6 and 7, 2011

Posted on September 06, 2010
IP Dragon is very honored he is invited by the IP Academy of Singapore to speak at the 3rd Global Forum on Intellectual Property, Raffles City Convention Centre, on January 6 and 7, 2011. This years theme is very actual: "Turbulent Times: Onwards and Upwards for Intellectual Property?"I am very impressed by the learned line-up and I am very sure special things will happen when so much IP passionate scholars and practisioners fill up the same Singaporean space...

What Can A Famous Food Brand Do Against Footwear Using Its Mark?

Posted on September 06, 2010
As a vegetarian I do not frequent the many McDonald's fastfood joints that can be found in China and which turn the slim people obese, just as they did with the American and European populations. I am not really certain what is on sale inside a McDonald's, but when I was in Shenzhen near the beach I was surprised to see that McDonald's has been diversifying into toe slippers...

Q&A on Trademark Proactive (TP), Tipi and Indian Givers

Posted on September 05, 2010
I was delighted by the questions after I uploaded my Asia Pacific IP Forum presentation in Hong Kong to Slideshare: 'How Social Media Challenge the Brandscape for Trademark Holders' in which I propose a solution for trademark holders: Trademark Proactive (TP)...

Mickey, Pokémon and Dooly Still Banned From Chinese Prime Time TV

Posted on September 05, 2010
September 30 to October 5, 2010, the second China International Animation Copyright Fair will be held in China's animation capital Dongguan, Guangdong province. Read an article by Tan Jing for News Guangdong here.In 2010 foreign animations, such as Mickey Mouse (US), Pokemon (Japan) and Dooly (South Korean) have substantial mature industries, are still banned from prime time, a measure which started on September 1, 2006...

Uncreative Brand, Creative Brand in China

Posted on September 04, 2010
Uncreative BrandIn Yangshuo, next to Guilin, Guangxi province, you can see one of the most characteristic mountains of China. But if you bike through the village, you will notice some interesting shops as well. Almost next to each other you can see a shop that embodies the old copycat mentality and one that characterises the new creative brandbuilding mentality...

How Social Media Challenge the Brandscape for the Trademark Holders

Posted on September 04, 2010
Stan Abrams (China Hearsay), Chris Bailey (Rouse), Xie Lin (CUHK) and I gave presentations about the impact of Social Media on intellectual property (and vice versa). My presentation focused on social media and trademark law. In this presentation I tried to shed light upon the challenges trademark holders are facing in these times of social media...

Anglo-Chinese Memorandum of Understanding on Copyright

Posted on September 04, 2010
Intellectual property minister Wilcox and the president of the National Copyright Administration of China (NCAC) Liu Binjie signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoA) on Copyright, read more on the UK Central Office of Information site here.

IP Dragon Speaks on 7th Annual Asia-Pacific IP Forum 2010

Posted on August 23, 2010
September 1, 2010, Stan Abrams of China Hearsay fame, and I will speak on Social Media (such as Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, but also blogs) and intellectual property (especially trademark and copyright) issues, during the 7th Annual Asia-Pacific IP Forum 2010...

IP Dragon Gives Lunch Presentation At Baker & McKenzie

Posted on August 06, 2010
Yesterday I gave a lunch presentation at the Hong Kong office of Baker & McKenzie. The title of my presentation: 'Is China's Unique Patent Law Paving the Way to Innovation?' about the challenges of foreign innovators because of the changes in the Third Amendment to China's Patent Law 2008...

Professor Llewelyn's Book Launched: 'Invisible Gold in Asia: Creating Wealth Through Intellectual Property'

Posted on August 02, 2010
Professor Llewelyn's new book just came out: 'Invisible Gold in Asia: Creating Wealth Through Intellectual Property'. If IP is the invisible gold in Asia, then Professor David Llewelyn is the alchemist of intangible property.Publisher Marshall Cavendish Business writes:"World competition in the 21st century will revolve around competition for intellectual property rights (IPRs)...

Vax Is Not Infringing Dyson's Design Right?

Posted on August 02, 2010
Damian Reece wrote for the Telegraph that Dyson lost its claim in the High Court that its design right was infringed by the Mach Zen of Vax, a Chinese manufacturer of vacuum cleaners, whose design looks very similar indeed. See picture: left Dyson, right Vax...

TGIF: Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator Says The Darndest Things

Posted on July 30, 2010
Online copyright piracy is a serious problem. China has started a campaign of three months to blacklist websites with pirated content so that Chinese telecom operators can take them offline. Now one can question the effectiveness of this temporary measure, see here...

Copyright Piracy in China: China Did Not Shed Its Fetish For Temporary Mass Campaigns

Posted on July 30, 2010
Blacklisting until the blacklisting goes on black again...The National Copyright Administration of China (NCAC) has started a campaign on July 21, which will last until the end of October, to blacklist websites that are found to contain pirated content...

JCB's Chairman Compares China's IPR Enforcement To Disease At Banquet With Premier Wen

Posted on July 26, 2010
Jonathan Guthrie's article for the Financial Times about the travails of JCB, the manufacturer of loaders, forklifts etc. to survive the economic crisis, includes quotes of its chairman. This Sir Anthony Bamford allegedly said to the Chinese premier Wen Jiabao during a banquet that the unlicensed copying of Western technology by Asian manufacturers equals "cancer"...

CNBC: "The Most Profitable Criminal Enterprise: Counterfeit Goods"

Posted on July 06, 2010
CNBC presents "Crime Inc.: Counterfeit Goods," presented by Carl Quintanilla will be aired July 14. "At around 7% of all global trade, Counterfeit Goods are a big business with low overhead. It makes too much money to go away any time soon."

Chinese Counterfeit Cisco Products Because of Profit Seeking Or State Sponsored Cyber Terrorism?

Posted on July 06, 2010
After 'Cisco Raider/Operation Network Raider' about counterfeit Cisco Systems router products which originate from China, Professor Peter Navarro poses the question whether the intention was only profit seeking by unscrupulous Chinese counterfeiters, or whether these products are trojan horses that are designed to make the US defense more vulnerable to state sponsored cyberterrorism...

Ms Pagnattaro Does Not Keep It A Secret How To Protect Your Trade Secret In China

Posted on June 22, 2010
Marisa Anne Pagnattaro wrote a very good paper: ???The Google Challenge??: Enforcement of Noncompete and Trade Secret Agreements for Employees Working in China?, American Business Law Journal Volume 44, Issue 4, 603?637, Winter 2007, available at: http://papers...

Is Hong Kong's Copyright Stopping the Publication of Li Peng's Historic Significant Diary?

Posted on June 20, 2010
Benjamin Kam Lim reports for Reuters that the diary of Li Peng that describes Li's version of what happened during the events that lead up to the June 3, 1989 massacre, that Hong Kong publisher New Centuty Press was going publish this June 22, will be halted, because the copyright holder allegedly is banning it...

With An Eye On ACTA: China Champion of TRIPs Freedoms and Flexibilities

Posted on June 19, 2010
During the TRIPs Council, which was held June 8 and 9, China told delegates it was concerned about developed countries that want provisions (for example the lower thresholds for criminal enforcement of counterfeiting and piracy) that go beyong TRIPs...

China's National Intellectual Property Strategy, What's The Progress? Website To Stay Updated

Posted on June 18, 2010
September 11, 2008 IP Dragon published 'China's National IP Strategy 2008: Feasible Commitments or Road to Nowhere Paved With Good Intentions.' To "popularise" and to keep those interested in the progress of China in implementing its National IP Strategy a website was launched on June 5th, see here (Chinese)...

Guest Blogger Mathijs van Basten Batenburg On The People's Courts of China

Posted on June 18, 2010
IP Dragon asked Matthijs van Basten Batenburg legal counsel of several Chinese and Dutch SME at MvBB Ltd. in Shanghai to write a guest column. IP Dragon does not necessarily agree with the content, but wants to present a forum for all opinions that have something to do with IPR in China...

China Copyright and Media Looks At the Law of China's Entertainment Media

Posted on June 18, 2010
IP Dragon's friend Rogier Creemers has started a great website called 'China Copyright and Media, Looking at the Law of China's Entertainment Media', see here.For this field of study it includes many relevant laws, regulations and rules, from the State Council of the National People's Congress, Central Committee, Supreme People's Court, Public Security Bureau (PSB), State Administration for Radio Film and Television (SARFT), General Administration for Press and Publications (GAPP), State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC), Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM), etc...

Shanghai World Expo 2010 Exposes Organisers' Lack of Creativity

Posted on June 18, 2010
In 2007 the Bureau of the Shanghai World Expo 2010 Coordination promulgated a special regulatation (See here: No. 11) concerning intellectual property rights. In short all participants to the World Expo were warned that they should comply to China's IPR laws, regulations and rules far in advance...

Professor Llewelyn: "Leverage Your IP Rights"

Posted on June 18, 2010
This Morning IP Dragon attended a breakfast seminar by Professor David Llewelyn (IP Academy of Singapore and Of Counsel at White & Case in Singapore). Even though it was quite early, many people interested in how to maximise the use of IP did show up at the office of White & Case in Central, Hong Kong...

IP Dragon's "Shock and Awe" Holiday Tips

Posted on June 09, 2010
When in Paris, IP Dragon does not only highly recommend you to visit le Louvre at the rive droite and le Musée d'Orsay at the rive gauche so you will be awed by the original works of great artists. For a more, let's call it balanced world view, you must also hop on le métro and stop at Porte Dauphine in the XVI arrondissment, and stroll to Rue de la Faisanderie where you will find a very special place at number 16...

Is It a Plane? Is It a Bird? No It is the Bleagle! Made in China

Posted on May 28, 2010
Stan Abrams of the China Hearsay (which has been totally upgraded) reports straing from the INTA in Boston about ... Geely's Gleagle. Mr Abrams is giving his always entertaining thoughts about trademarks that consist of made-up words. Read more here.

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